President Cyril Ramaphosa and first lady, Tshepo Motsepe. Photo: Stud Game Breeders
President Cyril Ramaphosa is an avid and well-known game collector and breeder of Africa’s exotic wildlife.
Phala Phala is a ‘rare game’ breeding program that contributes to the extension and deepening of South Africa’s conservation efforts, particularly the preservation of South Africa’s wildlife heritage.
Phala Phala is one of six breeders forming part of the elite auction group, Stud Game Breeders.
Stud Game Breeders focus on supplying superior genetics to the industry.
“Our vision is to continually seek out and improve the genetic material in our quest to reproduce quality stock that has been eliminated through excessive hunting, disease and habitat loss,” says the website.
Phala Phala Wildlife farm is no stranger to controversy.
In 2020, US-based animal anti-cruelty non-profit organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) released damning findings of Ramaphosa’s involvement in the trophy hunting industry.
At the time, Peta accused Ramaphosa of “breeding and selling animals to be gunned down by tourists who have more money than morals.”
The Presidency at the time released a statement saying the allegations are patently false and are refuted in full.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa denies allegations he secretly profits from trophy hunting
Now, thanks to former State Security Agency boss, Arthur Fraser, South Africa in the past week learned the president was also robbed of a large sum of cash.
The money was hidden away in the furniture of Ramaphosa’s residence on Phala Phala.
Fraser’s explosive 48-page affidavit to the Rosebank police details how a cleaner on the farm discovered an excess of $4 million in cash in the president’s Phala Phala residence.
The domestic worker allegedly photographed the cash – which Ramaphosa said was the proceeds of game sales – and sent it to her brother who then conspired with a group of suspects to rob the president.
Ramaphosa was away in Ethiopia on African Union business at the time of the robbery but said he’d reported the crime to the Presidential Protection Unit, which forms part of the Saps.
However, it would appear that officials investigating the break-in tracked down the suspects using state resources, and then paid off the suspects in exchange for silence about the crime that took place – allegedly on the president’s orders.
This damning allegation places Ramaphosa in a precarious position because it would appear as though the president was either evading paying tax on the sales, and/or had contravened various fiscal and currency control laws.
Ramaphosa has since pledged to fully corporate with investigations into Fraser’s criminal charges against him.
NOW READ: Ramaphosa’s stolen millions an inside job, and the subsequent cover-up
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